Young Tasmanian Writers' Prize 2026
Sponsored by Forty South Publishing and the Tasmanian Association for the Teaching of English (TATE)
The Young Tasmanian Writers’ Prize is a short story competition open to Tasmanians enrolled in Years 7–12 at schools that are current members of TATE or who are home-schooled.
Entries NOW OPEN
Entries close on Monday, August 3, 2026
Prizes will be announced in late September 2026 by The Right Honourable, The Lord Mayor of Hobart, Councillor Anna Reynolds, at an event hosted by the City of Hobart.
The winning entry in each section will receive the Lord Mayor’s Prize ($300 in the Senior Section and $200 in the Junior Section).
The Jane College Prose Award is awarded in each section ($200 in the Senior Section and $100 in the Junior Section)
Two runners-up in each section will receive a $35 Fullers Bookshop voucher.
Winning stories will be published in Up and Coming/26, a print anthology co-sponsored by Forty South Publishing and TATE.
Junior Section (Years 7 – 9): 700-1000 words
Choose a minimum of TWO of the following to reference anywhere in your story: The colour blue or black / The sound of a black cockatoo / The smell of lavender / The feel of water / The taste of blackberries
Senior Section (Years 10 – 12): 800-1500 words
Incorporate a minimum of THREE of the following elements in your story: A place in Tasmania / References to fire, air, earth and/or water / The colours red, blue and/or green / A repeated image or phrase / An evocative smell or taste
How to enter
1. Read the terms and conditions
2. Buy your entry via the online bookshop
3. Submit your entry via the electronic form
JUDGES
Senior Section
Kyle Perry is a writer based in the NW coast of Tasmania. He has grown up around the Tasmanian bush and seas, with the landscape and ocean a key feature of his writing and his spare time. His debut novel, The Bluffs, has been translated into six languages. It was shortlisted for the Dymocks Book of the Year and the Indie’s Debut Fiction Book of the Year and was longlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards’ General Fiction Book of the Year. Both his novels are currently in development for screen adaption.
Junior Section
Judith Ridge is internationally recognised as one of Australia’s leading experts on literature for children and young adults. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Judith has worked as an English Teacher, Teacher Librarian, children’s book and magazine editor, youth arts program coordinator and teacher of creative writing. She is the commissioning and contributing editor of The Book That Made Me (Walker Books 2016). Judith is a Churchill Fellow and is currently working on completing her PhD on Australian children’s fantasy fiction.
Jane College Prose Award (to be confirmed)
Shortlist selection
Sonia Strong lives on the forested slopes of Mount Arthur. She has worked in conservation and alpine/marine park management, as a paramedic and, now, as Assistant Publisher at Forty South Publishing. She is also a metalsmith, writer and painter. She has published several children’s books through Forty South, including “Tazzie The Turbo Chook Finds Her Feet”. You can follow her on Instagram, @soniastrongartist
